“Mrs. Dr. Prof. Gunter” is scribbled on a poster of Johnny Depp in the Daviess County High School English classroom.
“Mrs. Gunter is the best teacher ever!” is written on a yoga ball across the room.
Senior pictures of students from years past are taped to the wall in a cluster right next to a framed Doctorate of Education certificate.
At first glance, Angela Gunter’s classroom seems disorganized, but with a closer look, it’s a shrine dedicated to students she loves — and who love her back.
Angela is the only teacher at the school with a Ph.D. She has chosen to continue teaching high school because she can form closer relationships with students there than she could at the college level.
“I get thanked every day for what I do,” she says. “I feel like I’m cheating the taxpayers. I would do this job for free.”
Angela was recently named a semi-finalist for the 2013 Kentucky Teacher of the Year Award. She has been teaching at Daviess County High for 11 years.
“She is definitely my favorite teacher,” says junior Caitlin Adams. “Everything we do in her class is interesting. She never gets mad, which is pretty awesome, because we do a lot of stuff in that class that we probably shouldn’t.”
Angela says she teaches with a more conversational approach to help her students.
“During our tests, you can literally hear her in your head getting excited about what we were talking about,” junior Hannah Goldman says. “Once you see it on the paper, you’re just like ‘Mrs. Gunter!’ and you just know the answer. It makes it a lot less boring.”
Junior Olivia Conder says she can tell Mrs. Gunter is passionate about what she does.
“They’ll do anything for you if they perceive you’re genuine and have their best interests at heart,” Angela says.
